1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connecting device between a ski boot and a board-like type of sports equipment, in particular a ski binding, comprising a toe or front binding fixture associable with the tip of the ski boot, and a heel or rear binding fixture associable with the heel of the ski boot. Said binding fixtures each have a boot sole holder adapted for engaging the ski boot, whereby the ski boot is chucked between said binding fixtures with an initial clamping force applicable via a pre-tensioning spring, and a release device for releasing the sole holder of the ski boot that is arranged between the ski boot holder and a bearing block supporting the toe binding fixture, and a bearing block supporting the heel binding fixture; as well as a joint arrangement disposed between the boot sole holder and the bearing block, the latter being fixed on the ski, for rotationally supporting said binding fixtures in relation to one another, permitting their rotation in at least two directions extending vertically relative to each other, with one of said directions being aligned perpendicularly to a support surface of the bearing block for supporting the latter on the board-like type of sports equipment.
2. The Prior Art
Such a connecting device is usually comprised of a toe binding fixture associated with the tip of the ski boot disposed in front of the latter, and a heel binding fixture associated with the heel of the ski boot, in a manner known, for example from DE 21 36 262. The toe and heel binding fixtures may comprise ski boot sole holders adapted for engaging the ski boot. The boot is normally clamped between said toe and heel binding fixtures and the boot sole holders with an initial clamping force. For releasing the boot from such a board-like type of sports equipment, an actuation device has to be actuated for releasing the pre-clamping device and thus canceling the initial clamping force, so that the boot can be lifted off from the board-like type of sports equipment. The boot sole holders are additionally equipped with a pre-tensioning spring of a release device disposed in a central position relative to the bearing blocks of the toe and heel binding fixtures. The initial tensioning force of the spring can be adjusted as required depending on the skiing skills of the skier, as well as based on criteria adapted to the user of the ski binding such as his or her weight, age, and skiing skills, and, for example, the diameter of the tibia, the objective to be accomplished being that when such a connecting device exerts stress on the foot of the skier while the latter is skiing with such a type of board-like sports equipment, such stress will not reach a magnitude or level of strain so high that it might lead to injury to the skier. The purpose is rather to overcome the initial stressing force exerted by the pre-tensioning spring before such a level of strain is reached, so that the ski sole holder will be released, and the boot is enabled to detach itself from the board-like type of sports equipment before the foot of the skier suffers any injury. In conjunction with a joint arrangement that is used with the known toe binding fixture, a ball and a spherical indentation-like recess associated with the latter are adapted for pivoting relative to one another in a plane extending parallel to the surface on which the bearing block is mounted. This permits a relative adjustment between the ball and the deepening in one three-dimensional direction. Moreover, in a preferred way, it is possible as well to adjust the ball and the recess relative to one another in another three-dimensional direction, specifically in the direction extending perpendicularly to said plane, so that when the toe binding fixture moves in the vertical direction relative to the stand-on surface, the boot is released by the sole holder if a pre-adjustable force is exceeded. Such an embodiment is disadvantageous in that the ball is a component of the release device, forming one structural unit jointly with the latter, and that is it therefore not possible to achieve either any exact guidance of the sole holder relative to the bearing block, or any exact release or precise prior determination of the release values for the toe binding fixture. In addition, it is a drawback that the sole holder has to be fastened on the ski boot separately.
Furthermore, it is also known already from DE 22 20 560 C3 to employ a connecting device, particularly a toe binding fixture for a safety ski binding, in conjunction with which the sole holder is adapted for pivoting on a pivotal axle that is stationarily arranged in the bearing block, and aligned vertically to the surface on which said bearing block is set up, whereby the sole holder is held via a release device formed by a ball that is pressed into a ball socket-type recess via the initial tension of a spring. In the present case, the entire sole holding device is arranged on the toe binding fixture, and no structural alterations and mounting work are required on the ski boot, on the one hand. However, on the other hand, the sole holder can be exactly pivoted around the stationary, vertical pivotal axle in only one plane.